Beeston

This photograph shows West Yorkshire police onTempest Road in the Beeston neighborhood of Leeds. The Absurdist and the boy's mother lived on Tempest Road in happier times in 1998 and 1999 when the Absurdist was a post-graduate student at the University of Leeds.

West Yorkshire Police raided two homes in the Beeston neighborhood earlier this week as part of the investigation into the bombings on July 7 in London. Two of the suicide bombers were from Beeston. A third was from nearby Holbeck.

The Absurdist and the boy's mother probably walked by these young men on the sidewalk or watched them play cricket in Cross Flatts Park.

Leeds is a tough city. A place where men drink and fight to pass the time. I witnessed several fist fights on busy city sidewalks and once saw a brawl break-out in a McDonald's.

Beeston was looked down-upon by people in Leeds. It was a densely populated, working-class neighborhood on the edge of the city. It was a mix of older English men and women, junkies, Sikhs and Muslims - with their roots in Kashmir, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The Muslims and Sikhs were the targets of people's derision. Paki's was the slur used in Leeds.

The boy's mother and I made many friends there, the boy's mother in particular. While I was busy with my studies, she was volunteering in the community. She was the guest of honor at several "leaving-dos" when we left.

Despite what the rest of the city may have thought of the immigrant population in Beeston, the different communities in the neighborhood got along. Strong ties have been built amongst them. The Methodist Church where we worshipped was working with the immigrant community to develop an adult day care for elderly immigrants. The boy's mother and I once ate dinner at the Kashmiri Muslim Welfare Association.